


Pitch Black (Return of Shadow Yosuke)

by Toxiccoffeebean



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series, Souyo - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Souyo Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 19:56:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19047295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toxiccoffeebean/pseuds/Toxiccoffeebean
Summary: Souyo Week day... 5? It's 5 right? (bit late but oh well)I Picked Shadows (I've been waiting a long time to pull out this AU I have had about Shadow Yosuke)Like the other stories, I made a remix and drew an image to go along with this tale.Continuation of Day 4's story, Night Shade (and so on and so on) You should read the others before you read this! (Also warning for DV mention and spoiler mention)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“So how… how does this story go? If I was on the midnight channel- How was I thrown in?”“As I said. I won’t be leaving you in the dark about any of this stuff.”As Narukami told Yosuke all he knew, memories came flooding back...





	Pitch Black (Return of Shadow Yosuke)

“So I deliberately used the beads as a means of forgetting all the crap I went through?”

Yosuke gripped his forehead, weary and drained. His body was draped over a cushion like an old dirty rug. It was long past midnight by this point.

Yu was still upright too, though there shadows forming from bags under his eyes.

“That’s right. And a single bead could erase whatever happened in the last two to three hours.” Yu spoke, his voice rough and low.

“But that’s just the problem…” Yosuke starred, grimly at his silver eyed friend. “I remember now... that it wasn’t enough. That and I'd have to jump through the TV at work all the time to do it”

“Teddie caught you going in by yourself multiple times, and only told Kanji about it before you appeared on the midnight channel, and Nanako passed away. It was just after we nearly threw Namatame into the television.”

Yosuke covered his face with two sweaty palms, trying to force himself to remember. But he was more worried about the idea of his shadow running rampant, saying terrible stuff on TV than anything.

“I… was on the midnight channel?! No… w-why didn't you tell me that?! My shadow- what did he say?” He started shivering, but it was short lived as Yu gently put his hand on Yosuke’s shoulder. 

“As I said. I won’t leave you in the dark. I will try my best to tell you the full story. I can assure you I'm the only member of the investigation team that recalls everything about the event.”

Yosuke huffed out a “They don’t remember either? How could they forget?” as he tensed up, his partner leaned in to rub Yosuke’s back a bit, hoping to ease his anxiety.

“Your shadow became strong. It was definitely up there as one of the strongest opponents our group had ever faced. It took down everyone with ease and had stopped me from using any personas that required the bond between us. I watched everyone get mowed down by the creatures that your shadow had created. In the end, you accepted it, but you kicked the bucket as well. And I ran out of revival beads…”

“That’s right.” Yosuke’s voice cracked. “That memory I had. That was just after… So that means you didn't fully believe in the beads either? Is that why everyone forgot.”

“That’s the jist of it.”

“So how… how does this story go? If I was on the midnight channel- How was I thrown in?”

“As I said. I won’t be leaving you in the dark about any of this stuff.”

As Narukami told Yosuke all he knew, memories came flooding back...

* * *

Yosuke was having another awful day. He was given the responsibility to be a floor manager for the week, as the other guy was out on vacation. His dad barked demands at him all day, but he would not let that discourage him. He felt some kind of pride in knowing that they were able to save Nanako- way before the fog lifted in the TV world. It was also very likely that they had  _ finally _ solved the case. That meant Yosuke was a hero. He gritted his teeth and wore a smile despite everything bad that had happened. When he got home, it was fairly late. He had a shower and called out to Teddie that it was time to hit the sack, but Teddie was elsewhere- possibly hanging out in the TV world.

 

Yosuke couldn’t sleep that night. He felt like something was missing, and it was like his persona was banging on the walls of his heart, and screaming- telling him something wasn’t right. He tried his best to ignore it.

“Come on Yosuke, you gotta get sleep” he chanted to himself. “Big day again tomorrow, we can’t disappoint dad for the hundredth time this week.”

As he repeated that to himself a few times in a mantra, he barely realised it was midnight, or that the TV in his room had flickered on. As he heard the rain hitting the window, he remembered the Midnight channel. He sprung upright on his futon, in a rather comical jack-in-the-box sort of manner. Eyes darted towards the TV, as he tried to focus. Crackling and static whirred from the large LED pane.

“Who is that?” He whispered to himself, though his vision was fairly blurry from being so exhausted. The silhouette on the screen was distorted, so all Yosuke could make out was a young male pedaling on a bike. As the screen flickered off once more, Yosuke collapsed back onto his bed.

“Does that mean, Namatame’s gonna throw another person in there? Dammit, I’m going to break this guys legs.” Yosuke whispered to himself as he started finally drifting off.

 

The next day, after Yosuke had finished his nightmare shift, the team decided to get a kotatsu and some gifts for Nanako, but it was for nothing when they had to stop half way through shopping to rush to the Hospital. They didn’t even have time to discuss who was on the Midnight channel. The little girl was suddenly in a critical condition, and it was likely she wasn’t going to make it. Yosuke had never seen his Partner look so shattered. He was already worn out trying to rescue his little cousin from a villian, after all. And then, just like that, Nanako was gone. 

That Adachi fellow, the detective that worked with Narukami’s uncle, swung by at the wrong time. He had to tread lightly in an isle of sobbing teenagers, and instead set off a full warzone when he accidentally slipped out the whereabouts of Namatame- claiming that Nanako’s dad, Ryotaro Dojima, was after him. Ryotaro, who had got into a car accident in a high speed chase with Namatame, was limply dashing down halls on crutches. The Investigation Team caught him legging it to a door in the Hospital, looking somewhat like a rampaging Gorilla. And Dojima was in absolutely no position to be exerting his physical strength like that. Yu had to send him back, promising Dojima that he would  _ ‘Take it from there’. _

 

Yosuke had been waiting for a moment to see the bastard in person again. He wanted to  _ torture  _ him. What he did to Saki? Unforgivable. He had heard rumours that Namatame had tried to make advancements on her and that made Yosuke’s blood boil. Now Nanako, Yu’s little cousin and ‘sister’ had passed away because of her being dragged into the TV world- and that gave Yosuke a good reason to beat the ever loving crap out of this twisted man.

 

The team crowded around a pleading Namatame. Yosuke was getting bored of hearing Namatame yap about how ‘he only wanted to save her’. Save her? Yosuke didn’t think so. It was a good thing Naoto, the teams brains had the brilliant idea of throwing Namatame into the TV world. That meant he could suffer down there with his shadow- getting a taste of his own medicine. But Yu was taking his sweet time. He had dragged Namatame up to the TV’s frame and stopped. 

Yosuke was furious. Why did Yu stop? This guy killed that announcer, Saki and Nanako- and Yu was just standing there. Half of the team agreed this was the best way to end things, so why wasn’t he committing?

_ ‘Just throw him in…’  _ A dark part of the orange haired teen started growling in thought.  _ ‘The fog will come back on this side soon- his shadow will kill him, and no one will ever know why. It’s the perfect revenge. What are you waiting for, Partner.’ _

 

“If we do this, we’ll be no better than him!” Yu shouted out.

 

He was right, yet Yosuke insisted.

_ ‘If he won’t throw him in, I’ll do it myself. Seems like the perfect Yu Narukami isn’t as fit to be a leader after-all… That’s exactly why it should be me’ _

 

“Yosuke, calm down.” Those words. He had barely realised he was shouting demands at Yu, much like his father did at him. “We need to start thinking with our heads, not our hearts.”

His heart. Of course. What was wrong with him? Yu was right. Yu was perfect and he doubted him. Yosuke felt like garbage. How could he call himself a hero if he was going to  _ do exactly what the villain would do? _

 

There Narukami gave him a desperate look with two glimmering, pearlescent eyes. Those two really super cool moon-jewels he had come to love so much. How could he let down someone as beautiful and amazing as his Partner.

_ ‘No, now’s not the time for thinking about that!’  _ Yosuke’s brain hissed at him,  _ ‘He’s not beautiful, or perfect or attractive dumbass! Stop being ridiculous! Come on, get your act together! His cousin just died for god’s sake!’ _

 

Yosuke shook his head. “Fine.” He said almost aggressively. “I’m with you.”

 

Naoto insisted that they ask Namatame from his point of view. After getting an account of his story, they started to deduce that it was likely Namatame was not the killer, but rather another victim in the matter. They left the Hospital, and although Narukami was trying his best to stay strong for the team, Yosuke knew very well he was not going to be okay. He waited until everyone said their goodbyes, and watched from behind a wall to see how things would play out. Of course, as he predicted, Narukami was breaking, tears rolling down his face. Muttering something up at the sky about the snow.

 

Yosuke didn’t know what to do. His body just moved forward on it’s own. He let his autopilot run, to decide how to help his beloved Partner. He stood next to Yu, offering his shoulder and his comfort. Although a part of him started boiling inside him, another part just wanted to hold Yu tight and tell him everything was going to be alright. Yosuke couldn’t believe he would even consider something like that in a time like this. 

_ ‘You want to weird him out with all that gross girly stuff when he’s trying his hardest to be a man? You’re a freak, Hanamura!”  _

 

As Yu was recovering, Yosuke realised he had taken the liberty of hugging his partner- his head resting on Narukami’s shoulders, face pressed against his cool neck. Though it was freezing and snow had started falling, the anger and frustration that came out of Yosuke’s self loathing was enough to heat up a house.

_ ‘I’m the worst. I’m absolute garbage. If my dad found out I was doing this, he’d beat the crap out of me.’ _

Yosuke’s eyes widened as he pulled out of the hug. Narukami looked up at the other with shock, before he cleared his throat and turned his back to the orange haired one.

“Thank you, Partner. Let’s go home now”

 

Yosuke didn’t say anything, instead he just started walking away, as did Narukami.

 

_ ‘He called me partner back… it felt good, being acknowledged like that.’  _ One voice in Yosuke’s head swooned, as he paced back towards his house.  _ ‘That means he feels the way that I do, right?’ _

_ ‘Wait, what do I mean by that exactly? I can’t believe myself. Here I am, getting all weird and mushy over Yu- wake up, dumb ass. You act like you’re in love with him or something! You’re not… You just want to be like him. You want to be a leader, a hero- remember?’ _

Yosuke stopped outside his door, shaking.

_ ‘I’m not a hero. I’m not special. The only thing I have going for me is that I’m that one guy that waves people into Junes. I’ll always be the prince of disappointment. But if I can be there for Yu when he needs me, if I can be there to support him through the murders...then I think I can live with myself.’ _

 

Yosuke spent the whole afternoon arguing to himself, that by the time night fell, he was so mentally exhausted, he collapsed and fell asleep, completely missing the midnight channel, which had flickered on by itself somehow. 

 

Yu Narukami, sat on the small couch in his room, glancing warily at the screen. His eyes were bloodshot from all the crying he had been doing that day. Now that Nanako had passed away, and that Ryotaro was in hospital, the house started giving off the same lonely vibe as his parents’ apartment. It had been snowing all afternoon, and it didn’t seem like it was going to stop that night.

Yu clutched his remote, begging himself to try and concentrate on the person on the television.

As the hour-hand on the clock struck twelve, Narukami glanced at the small screen, eyes unblinking. As a pale light flickered from the box and a surprisingly recognisable silhouette was revealed, Narukami couldn’t help but drop the controller from his hand.

“No, it’s not… is it?”

 

Yosuke woke up the next day feeling completely numb. He couldn’t seem to think straight, suspecting he might be coming down with a cold. His Mother was out that morning, so he made himself a coffee and downed it before darting to work. He knew he was late, which meant that his dad was going to make his life a personal hell. Although at that point, his life was already hell.

As he clocked in and wrapped his work apron around him, he started remembering everything that happened the past few days and felt an overwhelming sense of numbness strike him. Every noise around him started turning to static, so when his dad started shouting at him, he couldn’t really focus on what was being said. He had nearly forgot he was supposed to be helping out in an advertisement recording for Junes. He would be just saying some one liners really, which he didn’t even know if he was mentally prepared to do.

 

Later, after the commercial recording, he saw the team had gathered around the table at the food court on the roof. The snow seemed to have melted just enough that it was tolerable to hang outside. He didn’t remember them saying that they were having a meeting, then again he was so caught up with getting to work on time, he forgot to check his phone.

“Yosuke, come here!” Chie called out to him. “You need to get your ass over here right now.”

Yosuke started moving in that direction, preparing to put on his usual ‘everything is fine’ mask.

“Good, you’re okay.” Yu sighed, his voice sounding a little hoarse. “Is Teddie alright?”

Yosuke stretched for a second, his brain filled with fog. “I don’t know, I haven’t seen him at all. I’m kind of worried.”

“Dammit, I hope he’s alright.” Said Kanji, who was brushing back his combed over, bleach-blonde hair with a muscular hand. 

“Yosuke-Senpai.” The detective prince, Naoto glared at her talking target with two dark eyes. “The midnight channel revealed a rather interesting figure. We believe it to be you.”

“Huh?” Yosuke blinked. “That can’t be right- It must be someone else.”

“While it’s likely to be anyone.” Naoto continued. “The figure had a bike, and it looked like it was wearing a pair of headphones.”

“Not only that, but no one else has that weird city-clown haircut. That’s got Yosuke-senpai written all over it!” cried Rise, the teams Navigator. “It had to be you! I’m sure of it!”

“Guys wait a second.” Chie tilted her head. “Namatame’s been apprehended, right? He can’t go back to ‘saving’ people anymore! That and Yosuke has his persona already… Is it possible for a persona to turn back to a shadow?”

“We don’t know, do we? I mean, everyone’s pretty much accepted themselves… right?” Asked Kanji, his eyes flickering between Yu and Naoto, hoping for some kind of guidance.

“If I may-” Yukiko, quickly raised her hand for permission to talk. “It seems very likely that the murderer is the one who would throw Yosuke-Senpai into the TV.”

“What are you guys even talking about!?” Yosuke finally cut in. “You make it seem like I’m the next target. Even if I was, I can take care of myself, I’m not that much of an idiot, you know!”

The team went silent. After about a minute of everyone looking at each other with concerned expressions on their faces, a calm, yet serious voice spoke up.

“Are you being true to yourself, Yosuke?” Asked Yu.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Yosuke said, with a forced smirk. “I’m the same as ever, partner!”

“If you're sure, then it seems we won’t be having a repeat of last time.”

“”Actually Senpai.” Kanji said, with a sigh. “This has really been making me think about myself. A-Actually, both Naoto and I have been discussing this- and- I think It’s time I came clean. I want to be totally true to myself. My Shadow was kind of right about me. I sorta do like guys, but I’m not ruling out liking girls or people of other genders either…”

Chie, Rise and Yukiko cheered a little. Yu just smiled, Naoto just hummed under her breath.

 

“On that note” Naoto added “I’ve also come to the conclusion that I feel more comfortable being masculine than feminine, but like Kanji, I’m not going to rule out other possibilities just yet.”

 

“No matter what we’ll be here to support you!” Yukiko said, beaming with delight.

“Absolutely!” Rise agreed.

 

Yosuke felt uncomfortable for a moment. Everyone was so accepting and loving. He took a quick glance at Narukami who looked happy, and it brought him a sickening warmth that didn’t sit right in his stomach.

“Huh, cool, if not a little freaky-” Yosuke blurted out, defensively “-I mean, it’s just unique- different- It’s cool yeah.”

Everyone’s faces shifted from glowing and warm smiles to cold frowns within those words. It couldn’t help but remind Yosuke of his dad. “What? It’s just unusual. You know, a guy that likes guys and a girl that wants to be a guy...”

“What are you saying, Yosuke-Senpai?” Kanji said, clearly with a rage building within him.

 

Rise folded her arms. “Yosuke that’s really horrible! Why would say something like that?”

 

“Guys, it’s the prince of disappointment. He always says stupid stuff like that, he probably doesn’t mean it though, right Yosuke?” Chie stuttered, trying her best to defend him. “You’re their friend, right?”

 

“I don’t really think I can be friends with someone who isn’t willing to accept me.” Naoto glanced coldly at Yosuke. It made him take a step back.

 

“H-Hey now, don’t be like that!” he said, splaying and waving his hands at the team, trying to diffuse the situation. “It’s just odd… d-don’t you agree, Partner?”

 

Yu stared daggers at him in response. It made Yosuke realise just how big a hole he was digging himself. “No. I can’t say I do agree with you, Yosuke.”

 

He backed away slowly. He messed up, again. He should have kept his mouth shut. He didn’t really think those things at all, yet he just blurted them out. Everyone was right. He was a disappointment. He was the biggest freak at the table. 

“S-Sorry, but I have to get back to work now!” 

He darted back towards the inside of the store, and looked for the nearest staff door to hide behind. He tried to gather himself together so he could focus on work- after all if his dad caught him ‘slacking off’ he would get a fist to his face. Anytime Yosuke would try and tell his dad that the punching was abusive, his dad would turn around and say something on the lines of ‘It’s because I care about you, I have to care about you’, as if it were a chore. For some reason, however, he felt like he needed the punch to the face.

 

_ ‘I’m a freak. A villian. The worst. Now I don’t have any friends and I’m going to be isolated and alone again… I… I just want to forget it all’   _ He said.  _ ‘If I could just make it through one more hour… I can go home and use a revival bead- I won’t be able to make it back to Junes to forget the afternoon, but I might be able to jump through the TV at home… I won’t know where I am, but I should be strong enough to fight my way back to the main area where the exit is’.... Maybe I’ll be fine without them. Maybe I can find the murderer by myself… If I catch him maybe they’ll see I’m not that bad… I can redeem myself to them-” _

 

As he formulated his plot, Yosuke opened the door again ready to plow through the rest of his shift, knowing that he’s just going to forget it all anyway.

The next thing he knew, he was at home- sorting through items in his bag. He found his two remaining beads from the bracelet Nanako once made him.

“Nanako-chan” He said, clutching onto them, as he used his free hand to put on his special orange glasses. “I’m sorry…”

Yosuke stared intently at his Bedroom’s Television set, two kunai hidden in the sleeves of his white winter jumper, and a bag full of supplies strapped over one of his shoulders. He pressed his hands onto his screen and prepared himself for the worst.

 

It started getting really late, so Narukami waved his friends goodbye and proceeded to go back to his uncle's empty house. He almost said ‘I’m home’ to no one when he got there. He didn’t want to stand around and look at the place where Nanako used to sit and watch TV, so he went straight up the stairs and turned the TV in his room on. It was by coincidence that he got a whiff of Yosuke’s face in the new Junes Commercial as he did. He looked like a clown on the television, and after the crap he had said that day, Narukami couldn’t help but growl a little at his dumb, insensitive team mate.

Narukami was folding paper cranes that whole afternoon. He hoped that if he made it to a thousand, he could wish Nanako back to life, or something like that- even though he doubted that it would ever work. He needed something to do with his hands before he could punch a wall or break every object in his room, so this just had to do. As he got to the nine-hundred-and-ninety seventh paper crane, he got a glance at the clock to realise it was almost midnight. He was almost there, but decided he should probably take a break. He turned off the television, tired of seeing Yosuke’s dumb face on the television for the 3rd time that night (No thanks to the ad).

As he looked out the window to see it was snowing again, he shut his blinds and lifted an eyebrow at the screen, before settling down onto the couch and staring bored, at it in the dark.

When things couldn’t get any worse that night, the Midnight Channel flickered on revealing, what looked to be some sort of amusement park.

 

“Are you feeling bored and lonely?!” A familiar and excited voice called out from the Television. “Then come on down to the Junes carnival! The only exciting place in Inaba!”

 

A strange boy- No... It was as clear as day who it was- Yosuke Hanamura stood in front of two huge fancy iron gates, decorated in Gaudy letters that spelt out JUNES. He wore a weird, outfit that resembled that of a ring leader or a magician. Although, judging by the fact that he had a golden, metal V glued onto his chest, Yu knew very well it was Yosuke’s Shadow. 

“We have tons of fun activities, shows and rides that are simply  _ to die for-  _  And, if you come on down now, you’ll receive free tickets to see Inaba’s exclusive: Junes Freakshow where me and my bizarre friends will perform crazy acts! You won’t be  _ disappointed! _ It’s practically a steal, but only for a limited time!” The Shadow leaned into the camera to whisper a  _ “terms and conditions apply.”  _

It wasn’t that Narukami couldn’t believe it, but more that he started to realise that Yosuke must have been bottling up way too much of his conflicts for this to have happened. Though the headphones-wearing boy appeared to put on a brave face half the time, Yu couldn’t fathom what kind of things were secretly hiding behind the Magician’s mask.

“So what are you waiting for! Bring your family and friends along to the Junes Carnival!  _ It’s an experience, you’ll never want to forget! _ ”

 

As the TV flickered off, Narukami couldn’t help but stand up and kick the table in anger.

“The culprit got him… Now that idiot is in trouble.”

 

Yosuke woke up in what looked like a wooden frog shaped boat. And as he limply sat upright and glanced around, he could see that he was in the middle of an island, in a pond, surrounded by massive, towering, cobblestone cylindrical walls that seemed to go upwards forever.

“Is this… a giant well?” He questioned, as he noticed the dark and cloudy sky captured in a small circle up above him. He glanced around again, noticing there was another light source from a strange neon pink heart sign, built into one of the walls further up. Looking to his sides, and a bit further up, he could see two exits, with some kind of old, ruined track dangling from them. They seemed out of reach- and it felt impossible to escape from.

 

As he weakly got out of the boat, and got a glimpse of the carnival rubbish caught in the reeds, the multiple broken frog boats, and the rest of the collapsed track embedded into the dirt- he realised that this was part of some sort of abandoned Old-Mill ride. The wind picked up around him all of a sudden, causing rubbish to blow around everywhere. A piece of paper blew right into his face… It was some kind of poster… with the words JUNES FREAKSHOW in huge letters that seemed to compliment the picture of him that went along with it. 

“The lonely frog prince?” Yosuke read aloud with panic. “No… What the hell is this place?”

 

“This place?” A distorted voice echoed in the wind, that seemed to be picking up even more. “This is the inside of your heart.”

 

“My heart?”

 

The voice cackled, from what sounded like behind him. As Yosuke turned around, he saw… himself… But what was that strange outfit he was wearing… And that weird top hat… and that golden V… That golden V looked like…

 

“Jiraiya?!” Yosuke squeaked, backing away. “No, that can’t be right-”

 

“Jiraiya?!” Those two golden, glowing eyes said it all. He was no longer Yosuke’s persona. “No… Not anymore, I’m afraid.”

 

“What happened… How did I get here?!” 

 

“Nice place here, isn’t it?” Yosuke’s shadow said, changing the subject as he waded forward in the pond. Little tadpoles scattered in the shallow water, as he caused ripples to form under his white sneakers (Which didn’t really go with the rest of the outfit.) “It’s just a small part of my amazing amusement park but, I feel like this is the best ride. It’s nice and safe in here. Don’t have to worry about anything going on outside...”

 

“Hey are you listening to me? - And hey there’s nothing fine with this place, it’s like a garbage tip down here.” Non-Shadow Yosuke protested, as he swatted a fly out of the way. “Wait- wait… no I need to accept you… I’m sorry. I am you and you are me.”

 

The Shadow laughed. It seemed to teleport somewhere in the breeze for a second, before he reappeared in front of Yosuke, inches away.

 

“That’s not going to work this time. You’ve gone too far.” Shadow Yosuke slapped his counterpart’s shoulder, with a solid hit, and scooped up the fly in his fingers. Yosuke reeled in disgust as he watched his other self pop the insect between his lips and swallow it with a gulp.

 

“Y-You’re a-”

 

“A freak. Yes, you are. And you think Narukami is going to like you back?”

 

“I… I can’t believe this… Y-You can’t be my shadow...Right? Like there is no way in hell…”

 

“Oh? Are ya denying me again?”

 

Yosuke squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to envision his persona the way HE remembered him. His motorcycle ninja frog… With his cool red scarf… He felt it. The magicians card… But as he opened his eyes, with the intent of breaking the tarot, and releasing his persona, he saw something odd…

The card was upside down and it seemed to be grey. It faded quickly after it was summoned.

Yosuke tried it again, once more...twice... same thing happened.

 

“Given up yet? Face it, you’ve messed up. You’ve pushed all your friends away from you and built a wall around your heart. Now you’re trapped inside, but it’s honestly better that way- You can’t hurt what you can’t see… _ or what you can’t remember.”   _ The shadow laughed maniacally. He suddenly seemed to have summoned some sort of spiky ring, that looked reminiscent of a saw-blade. “So relax! It’s not like you can go anywhere. It’s not like anybody is going to rescue you or anything.”

 

“What do you mean?!”

 

“I don’t know what to tell ya. You took those revival beads to try and forget that you hurt them. Couldn’t face the fact that you said such horrible stuff to Kanji and Naoto- particularly poor Kanji. It’s not his fault you’re terrified of Narukami finding out that you’re madly in love with him”

 

Yosuke tried to find a response to deny it, but it was true. He was projecting his fears onto Kanji, trying to convince himself he didn’t so he wouldn’t have to disappoint his father. He didn’t want to face himself, so he used the murder case as a distraction. When that didn’t work, he tried to force himself to forget. But no matter how many beads he took, he couldn’t erase the things that were hurting him. Not Saki, not her death or the pain from finding out she disliked him. Not the pain from constantly disappointing his family and everyone around him. Not the bullying that happened from all the people, blaming Junes for the fall of the shopping district. And certainly not the idea of the pain he will feel if Narukami rejects him.

 

“You’re all alone now. The only thing you have are these walls- oh actually- scrap that -” Shadow Yosuke suddenly perked up. “Seems like they’ve come to see the show! I can’t wait for them to laugh at me and tell me how much of a horrible person and a freak I am! Well, I better prepare the stage! Ta-ta for now!”

 

The shadow suddenly sprung through his spiky hoop, as if it were a portal, and disappeared into thin air. Yosuke felt all of his energy leave him at once, and as a result collapsed on the ruin frog boat in the middle of his miserable well. He felt his life force being sucked out of him… He knew if something wasn’t done soon he would be a goner.

  
“Yu… Partner… I’m sorry.” he croaked grimly. “Please,  _ help me… _ ”


End file.
